Associate Professor Tunahan DEMİRCİ

1) Associate Professor Tunahan DEMİRCİ

2) Research Assistant Saadet Serra AYDIN  

Communication:

1) +90 246 211 0179 (Secretary)

2) +90 246 211 0183 (Department)

The Department of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology comprehensively examines the processes of biologically derived drugs (biopharmaceuticals), from discovery and production to quality assessment and clinical use. The department's goal is to research active compounds of natural and biotechnological origin, develop next-generation drug delivery systems, and equip students with the necessary theoretical and practical skills for these processes.

Our department conducts research on the production of metabolites from plant and microbial cultures, their isolation and characterization, their integration into biopolymer-based carrier systems such as chitosan and alginate, their bioavailability assessment through release tests, and, finally, the investigation of the biological effects of these systems in healthy and cancerous mammalian cell lines. Advanced cell analysis methods such as plate reader systems and flow cytometry are used in these processes.

Working Areas

• Metabolite production in plant and microbial cultures: Production and optimization of secondary metabolites of pharmaceutical importance in in vitro cell and tissue cultures.
• Isolation and characterization of metabolites: Purification and structural confirmation of biologically active compounds by analytical methods such as LC-MS, HPLC, NMR.
• Integration with carrier systems: Encapsulation and stability-bioavailability analyses of metabolites with chitosan, alginate and different nanocarrier systems.
• Controlled release studies: Evaluation of release kinetics and pharmaceutical efficacy of metabolites by in vitro release tests.
• Cell culture-based biological tests: Performing cytotoxicity, apoptotic effects and mechanism analyses in healthy and cancerous mammalian cell lines using plate reader systems and flow cytometry.

Compulsory Courses

• Biology II
• Pharmaceutical Biotechnology

Elective Courses

• Plant Biotechnology

Our department aims to equip students with theoretical competence in research and product development by combining current biotechnological research methods, laboratory theory, and interdisciplinary approaches. Additionally, graduate thesis projects focus on plant biotechnology, nanocarrier systems, and pharmaceutical biotechnology.